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hvparent.com n Hudson Valley Parent 19 or at extracurricular activities. Healthy dose of danger Whitney Hall of Hurley recently hosted a Danger Camp for children ages 8 to 13 on her property for a week in June. The camp, devel- oped by Growing Kids, purposely introduces children to things many parents would consider dangerous, including building, tending and using fire, and using spears, knives and other weapons. They even have one day devoted to "getting lost" in the woods and using various skills to find their way back to the camp. "Keeping children from dangerous situations is detrimental in the long run," says Hall. "Think of a body and its immune system, for instance. 'Healthy' does not mean free of disease. 'Healthy' is a body that is equipped to fight off a disease when it encounters one. The healthier body is the body that can effectively take that threat and beat it. This comes from having a good immune system, which means that it has fought off several things before and is getting good at it." For kids and danger it is the same thing, says Hall. "You can't ever keep your kid out of danger entirely. It makes more sense to me to introduce them to dangerous things, so that they can handle it on their own when it comes up." In addition to just keeping them safer, allowing children the freedom to explore and experiment helps build imagination, according to Hall. She says that constantly structuring the things kids do is limiting their imaginations. "We have kids so scheduled with one activity after another, that they are unable to use their own creative ...We take care of kids... 104 Fulton Avenue Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 Phone: 845.452.1700 www.childrensmedgroup.com THE PEDIATRICIANS OF THE HUDSON VALLEY SM Fishkill Hopewell Junction Hyde Park Kingston Modena Newburgh Pawling Poughkeepsie Rhinebeck When kids hit adolescence, everything changes. No longer children, and not yet adults, they need a specialized type of care. Nobody knows this better than Dr. John Sieverding, who draws on his deep understanding of the relationships between pets and humans to create an accepting, nonjudgmental environment where his young patients can open up and talk. It's no wonder Dr. Sieverding feels at home in The Children's Medical Group. CMG is all about kids, and all our staff members excel at what they do. Nine "local" offices offer comprehensive medical services from birth through adolescence. Caring for kids isn't our business, it's our life. And we wouldn't have it any other way. John Knows Kids (and dogs). Always accepting new patients. Open 365 days a year. Visit our website or call our main number to schedule an appointment with Dr. Sieverding in our Kingston office. Follow us on facebook & twitter John Sieverding, MD Find out why Hudson Valley Parent magazine readers voted 9 of our providers as their "FAVORITE DOCS!" Make an appointment with your favorite doc, and find them on our website. Maple, 9, uses a bow drill to light a fire at Danger Camp. (Continued on Page 20)